“Agreeing to hang out with Saylor. I know you don’t really like her.”
“When did I say I didn’t like her? I mean, I wasn’t psyched about us forming Voltron with Bethany and her whole clique at first, but I never said I didn’t like them.”
“I guess that’s true. Maybe it’s you don’t seem like you want to be around them. You seem to like Saylor the least. That’s how it looked from my perspective, anyway.”
“Oh.” I think about what Saylor said about me not liking her. I think about how I tried not to really think about Saylor before and now…“I hung out with her a bit yesterday. It was okay. She’s got a lot of…energy.”
Jake laughs for real this time. “She and Bethany have that in common. You just kinda gotta let them do the talking for you and it works out fine.”
“That sounds terrible.” I cringe before smiling back at Jake. He is really in love. Super gross. “Nah, I don’t mind talking to her. I guess I just wasn’t expecting things to go this way.”
“With help, you’ll get the bingo done a lot faster, right?”
“I guess that’s true,” I say, and then I immediately realizethat’s not what I want. Or maybe it is. I do not have a crush on Saylor, but there’s something there that I don’t understand. Maybe I do want to hang out with her. Maybe I liked being around her yesterday and I want to be around her some more. Or maybe I just really wanted to get started on my online portfolio and she’s my only hope to build a platform. I really hate thinking about this stuff. I let out a shaky breath and I stand up, kicking my board up into my open hand. “We got some skating to do.”
Jake stands and twirls his own board around. “For real. She’s not bad. She’s actually really nice once you get to know her. And maybe it won’t kill you to be friends with one girl,” he teases.
“I’ll one girl you.”
Jake snorts before he skates off. I drop my board and take off right behind him, trying to ditch all unnecessary thoughts about Saylor Ford.
12
Saylor
The last day and a half have given me a new lease on life, a little pep in my step. Did I kinda bribe Heaven into letting me join her bingo party? I sure did, but I’m glad we struck a proper deal, because I’ve really done a deep dive into the world of tattooing and I feel like I am 100 percent ready to show her she’s not going to regret our arrangement. I am going to help her become the most popular artist turned tattoo apprentice in the world, or at least LA. And then I’ll do my best to get over my crush on her. It’ll all work out.
As soon as I can get away from my mom.
“So, you two figure out your plan of attack, and let me know if there are gonna be any more changes to the board,” Mom says.
“ ’Kay.” I’m not saying anything else, because she’s recording her Monday Mom Life content. Every Monday she makes a video laying out her week. Her phone is mounted so it’s turned toward the driver’s side so I’m not in the frame, but if I say anything content worthy, she’ll skip the voice-over and include what I said in the video and I am not in the mood.
“Also, not that you need to make a thing out of it, butHeaven’s a lesbian, right? Maybe you can talk to her about being queer.”
I whip my head in her direction so fast. “Mom.”
“What?! It’s another thing you two can bond over. You’re both biracial. You’re both lesbians. It’s a friendship made in heaven. Haha. Get it?”
“First of all, whaaaaat? Second of all, we’ve already talked about me coming out and she’s been gay since, like, birth. It’s not a big deal.”
“I don’t mean like that.”
“And another thing, it’s not like I don’t have queer friends. Tates and Emily are right there, and so are the Moms. Teresa already told me I can talk to her anytime I want. Same with Melissa.”
“Aww, good. I’m glad you have them in your life.” Melissa Greene deserves an award for putting up with Mom, especially after she basically asked her and her wife to be the positive Black female influences in my life since my dad’s family is back in Maryland. Still, I love the Greenes and I love my Bethy-boo. Even if my mom made things weird at first. I’m glad I have them in my life too.
Finally, we pull up in front of the Goo-Campbells’ massive three-story farmhouse on the park. I can’t believe I walked all the way over here the other day.
“Here we are,” Mom says as she puts the car in park and then she undoes her seat belt. Then she pauses her recording.
“You don’t need to come in,” I say a little too quickly.
“I’m not coming in. I’m just going to walk up and say hello. Do you need help with the door?”
“No, I got it. Just don’t bring your phone. You didn’t ask Heaven if she’s okay being filmed.”
“Oh right. Let’s go.”